The Non-Euclidian Staircase

Blue Moon went well the first game, but once we switched to the more strategically interesting Flit and Mimix decks, it was quite captivating. Knizia has a real winner here. The base game is simple, just play to match or exceed your opponent or admit defeat. But there are sufficient "exception" cards to make for a very enjoyable set of options at most points in the game. I'll have to keep my eyes open for the recently-released Khind and Terrah decks.

Balloon Cup had been a hit at Turkey-Con last Thanksgiving, with Lou and I playing several rounds. It's straightforward mechanic yet wide range of options at most points (due to the eight-card hands each player has) still proves a satisfying quick game. And, as usual, it was quite close... I won 3 trophies to none, but Jeanne was just one VP behind on most of those, so it really came down to who got the lucky draw near the end to break the big 3 and 4 point races.

Master and Commander is a game I almost couldn't bring myself to buy, it's so high priced. But I'm glad I did. The components are spectacular -- wooden "sea chest" game box; heavy, solid-feeling metal ship pieces; cloth board (with a bit of art game-effect-indeterminate artistic issues); glossy laminated playing cards; carved wooden dice, 6 standard and a custom Wind die; and a nice heavy "egg timer"/hourglass to control the pace. The basic game is nice, particularly the wind rules. Every time the "hourglass" runs out, you roll the wind die to see how the wind shifts. A sudden shift to catch you face to the wind can trap you under someone's guns VERY quickly, as movement ranges from 5 squares in the best facing to only 1 square in the worst. We played a second game using the advanced rules, though we got Mist slightly wrong (allowed someone to repair while in Mist rather than forcing him back out... I was lurking just outside with two undamaged ships, so it wouldn't have gone well had he come out) and were disappointed in the sometimes-clumsy wording of the random event cards (too many refer to "all ships" or "next turn" in somewhat unclear ways). Still, it was a fun and VERY close game (I ended up winning only because I boarded and captured one of Jeanne's ships, limped it back to my home port for repairs, then sailed it out just in time to engage Bob's ships three-to-two, though too near his home port to be comfortable even at those odds.

What can I say about Ticket to Ride that hasn't been said? A train game that isn't all the things that makes most train games tedious, a game with such limited and quick player turns that down-time is negligible, and a very, very pretty game. Lack of downtime is a very strong feature, exactly the opposite of many gather-and-expand games, which stagnate due to the numerous decisions available. I managed to create the worst route from DC to Miami imaginable (it went to Chicago, then Denver, then LA, then back through El Paso, Houston, and New Orleans), but it was really worth the points (and nerve-wracking when I had the cards for the longer legs but lacked the easily-blocked short connections that, if I played the long legs, someone else would grab and break my route). Very fun!

So far, I was doing something quite unusual... I was teaching people to play games and WINNING! In fact, I'd won all but two of the games played (Jeanne won the 2nd of our 3 Blue Moon games and I'd lost the first M&C duel).

Bang! broke my streak badly. We snagged a 4th player (you can't play Bang! with less than 4), and worked through the rules. The game is actually simple, but the icons and terminology are less than perfect (mostly due to translation issues and poorly worded rules). The central idea, though, is sound. Players have different roles with different victory conditions, and only the Sherif is public about his role. I was an Outlaw, out to kill the Sherif, and we got him down to within one point quickly, but then he hung on there. We misread the Jail card, costing one player (it turned out to be the other Outlaw, my would-be partner) an extra lost turn, and I played my Role card rather than a Missed card at one point, accidentally letting on that I was an Outlaw. Jeanne ended up with a win by offing the other Outlaw and using the reward to tag the Sherif for a perfect Renegade win.

Alhambra was a game I'd almost brought in my big tub o' games (filling half my Prius's trunk), but it had just failed to make the cut. Nick, our 4th for Bang! had his copy along, though, and wanted to try it out (having only seen it demoed at GenCon). Never pass on an offer to try out a SdJ winner, I say! Turns out we didn't have time to teach and play all the way through (NG closed just as we reached the 2nd scoring round of 3), but the taste we got of the game was solid. Like Ticket to Ride (this years' SdJ winner), Alhambra offers limited options each turn, some of which increase resources and some of which use them up. The four-currency mechanic is interesting; money comes in 4 currencies, and there's always one building available to buy with each currency. You have to trust a bit to luck, as the nice purchase you draw money for this turn might be bought by someone else before your next turn and replaced with a building you don't want, but the game is sound. I ended up tied for first at our mid-game stopping point, with a lock on one of the big points for the final scoring (I'd build more than half of that building type in the game, ensuring myself of big points), so I think I had another win within reach when we had to pack up.